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Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales is a future train operating company that will commence on 14 October 2018, operating the Wales & Borders franchise. History In October 2016, Abellio, incumbent Arriva/Frasers Centrepoint, Keolis/Amey Joint Venture and MTR Corporation/SMRT Corporation were shortlisted to bid for Wales & Borders franchise and last 15 years. In October 2017, Frasers Centrepoint withdrew from bidding process, followed in February 2018 by Abellio with the collapse of the partner Carillion. In May 2018, it was later awarded to Keolis. The new franchise was awarded by Transport for Wales. Planned improvements There are plans to improve services between 2018 and 2033 as part of the new franchise: North Wales and North West England * A new new hourly to Chester service was introduced in May 2019, with limited services extended to Wrexham General. *[[British Rail Class 230|Class 230 D-Trains]] are scheduled for introduction on services on the Borderlands, Conwy Valley and Crewe-Chester lines during 2019. The operator had indicated an introduction date of Summer 2019, but this has been pushed back awaiting delivery of the stock from manufacturer Vivarail. * Twelve refurbished Mark 4 carriages for the to Premier Service by the end of 2019, to replace the Mark 3 carriages. The first Mark 4 units were released by LNER in July 2019 following the introduction of Azuma services and are likely to be released to Transport for Wales by the end of 2019. * Increase to services to 2tph by December 2021, as part of the North Wales Metro. * Introduction of a new hourly Liverpool to and service, and a new two-hourly Liverpool to service from December 2022. * Introduction of a direct to service from December 2022. * Introduce the new fleet of Civity diesel multiple units (DMUs) to the North Wales Coast line and other North Wales routes during 2022. * Invest in and stations from April 2024, and in station by 2028. * Invest to co-fund new station buildings at . * Introduce new Community Rail Partnerships on the North Wales Coast Line and the Crewe to Hereford line. South West and Mid Wales and the Borders * Refurbished [[British Rail Class 170|Class 170 Turbostar]] two-car DMUs on services to West Wales, Ebbw Vale and Maesteg from 2019, and the Heart of Wales line from 2022, to replace [[British Rail Class 153|Class 153 Super Sprinters]]. *Open a new station at Bow Street in March 2020. * An additional service every day on the Heart of Wales line from December 2022. * A consistent 1 tph on the Cambrian line from Shrewsbury to from December 2022. * New Civity DMUs on the Cambrian line during 2022, to replace the [[British Rail Class 158|Class 158 Express Sprinters]]. * Introduce new two and three-car new diesel multiple units for the to service by 2023, to replace the [[British Rail Class 175|Class 175 Coradias]]. *A first-class service between and Manchester from December 2024. * Additional summer Sunday services from May 2023 between and – including a new 1 tph express service between major centres by 2025. * Invest in and stations in 2021, and station in 2025. * Introduce a new Community Rail Partnership for the West Wales line. South East Wales * Ticket machines were introduced at all South Wales Metro stations in 2019. *[[British Rail Class 769|Class 769 Flex]] bi-mode multiple units (BMMUs) were delivered to Cardiff Canton Depot in Summer 2019, and are scheduled to run on the Valley Lines by the end of 2019. * Replace all Class 142 and [[British Rail Class 143|143 Pacers]] by December 2019. * 4tph between Cardiff Central and Bridgend (direct, Monday to Saturday) from December 2019. * Introduce pay-as-you-go for users of smart cards by April 2020. * Increasing capacity of trains on early morning services to Cardiff Central from 2-car services to 4-car services. * A new 1 train per hour (tph) to service from May 2021. * 4tph between , Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare and Cardiff from December 2022, operated by ''Citylink'' tram-trains. * 6tph between Cardiff Queen Street and from December 2022. * Hourly to Cardiff Central services from December 2022. * Introduce new FLIRT diesel-electric multiple units (DEMUs) on the Ebbw Vale and Maesteg lines during 2022. * Introduce new FLIRT tri-mode multiple units (TMMUs) between , and to Rhymney and Coryton during 2023. * 2tph between Cardiff and Bridgend via the Vale of Glamorgan Line from December 2023. * 4tph throughout on the Rhymney line from December 2023. * Introduce ''Citylink'' tram-trains to the City Line during 2023. * Eliminate diesel use on the Central Metro lines (north of ) by 2024. * Open new stations at Cardiff Parkway in February 2020, , and by December 2023, Treforest Estate by December 2025, and by 2028. * Invest in Merthyr Tydfil from April 2020, Abergavenny from April 2023, and Cardiff Central and Chepstow from April 2025. * Develop a fleet maintenance depot at Taffs Well and a dedicated Infrastructure Management depot in the Valleys. * Build a Major Events Stabling Line (MESL) and a new station in Llanwern. Current fleet TfW Rail inherited a fleet of Class 142, 143, 150, 153, 158 and 175 diesel multiple units and Mark 3 carriages from Arriva Trains Wales, which had been refurbished starting from 2011 and had been fitted with WiFi in 2017 which is still in use. Class 153 Super Sprinters In April 2019 TfW Rail added 5 153s acquired from Great Western Railway to the 8 it previously had. Four of these entered service the following month, and the fifth returned from works on 5 October 2019 as the first 153 on the whole GB rail network with PRM modifications, and entered service on 21 October 2019. In October 2019, Porterbrook Leasing Company announced that they will lease further Class 153 units to TfW. These are understood to be 5 153s which will transfer from Greater Anglia. Later in October 2019, it was reported that a further-4-still 153s will transfer from West Midlands Trains to TfW. Class 142/143 Pacers and Mark 3 sets As of April 2019, all of TfW Rail's Class 142 & 143 'Pacer' railbus DMUs, which were intended to be withdrawn and replaced by 2020 but may now continue as necessary (subject to PRM dispensation), have had advertising vinyls applied, with the messages 'The start of a new journey', 'The journey is almost over for old trains', and 'These trains will terminate soon', stating rolling stock, infrastructure and service improvements. The Mark 3 carriages for the locomotive-hauled trains have had Transport for Wales logos applied to the ex-Arriva Trains Wales livery, as they will be withdrawn and replaced by 2020. Class 150, 153, 158 and 175 DMUs The rest of TfW Rail's rolling stock (the Class 150, 153, 158 and 175 DMUs), which will be withdrawn and replaced by 2023, is in the process of undergoing several changes. These include the application of Transport for Wales livery, and TfW Rail specification interior refurbishment (including new seat moquette, carpets and table surfaces, as well as AC and USB power sockets). In addition, the 150s/153s/158s are receiving PRM-TSI 2020 (Persons with Reduced Mobility - Technical Specifications for Interoperability) modifications including the fitment of toilet retention tanks (the 175s exceed the RVAR 1998 they were built to and are accepted without modification). Class 37 and Mark II carriages In June 2019, Transport for Wales started to hire Class 37-hauled Mark 2 sets to temporarily operate rush-hour services between Cardiff and Rhymney to help crowding, especially with many trains undergoing work, most importantly PRM-TSI 2020 modifications. As of October 2019, it was reported that these trains have now been granted dispensations to continue as necessary into 2020. Class 170 Turbostars In September 2019 Transport for Wales took delivery of the first 3 of 12 total British Rail Class 170 DMUs from Greater Anglia. Driver training is scheduled for September and the rolling stock is expected to enter service in December 2019. Greater Anglia had delayed delivery of the units, which had been expected by TfW earlier, due to delays with the delivery and rollout of the new Stadler FLIRT Class 755 units on the East Anglia lines. Train maintenance depots TfW Rail's current fleet is stored and maintained at the following depots. * Cardiff Canton: , , , , and units, and locomotive-hauled trains. Also a stabling point for 158s and 175s. * Chester (Alstom): units (main) * Machynlleth: units (main) * Holyhead: Stabling point for locomotive-hauled trains Future fleet All of TfW Rail's ATW-inherited and extra temporary fleet is due to be replaced by 2023 (with the exception of the Class 67 locomotives). Cascades and refurbishments Nine [[British Rail Class 769|Class 769 Flex]] bi-mode multiple units were due to be delivered by 2019, following conversion from Class 319 electric multiple units which were previously in service with Thameslink, by fitting diesel generators and extra electronic equipment to some previously unused below-solebar space. This work has been delayed for a number of operators who wished to run the Flex DMUs, including Great Western Railway and Northern. The expected delivery date of May was not achieved, and in July 2019 TfW confirmed that regulatory issues with the units were preventing their introduction. As of October 2019, only 2 769s have been delivered, and those units have not left Cardiff Canton depot since. These units are now expected to enter service in 2020. In addition, at least 3 Class 67 locomotives will be adapted to work with 12 (4 each) Mark 4 carriages and 3 (1 each) Mark 4 DVTs from London North Eastern Railway, which will replace the Mark 3 stock currently used on locomotive-hauled services. These will cascade as a result of the introduction of Intercity Express Programme units to LNER, in the form of the Azumas on the East Coast Mainline. The first "new" trains will also join the fleet during 2020 in the form of 5 D-Train diesel-battery-electric multiple units, which are being built in England from former London Underground D78 Stock aluminium bodyshells by start-up rolling stock manufacturer Vivarail. The first Class 230 units were delivered to London Northwestern Railway in April 2019, on the Marston Vale Line. The five-month delay for introduction of these services indicates however that the units will also be delayed on the North Wales mainline (they were supposed to be introduced in 2019). The addition of the 170s and 230s to TfW Rail's fleet will facilitate an internal cascade of around half of their Sprinter diesel multiple units to the Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes network, which the 769s will also be allocated to, along with the smaller quantity of 150s which already are. The additions of the 769s and significantly more 150s to that network's allocation were intended to allow the 30 (total) Class 142 & 143 Pacer railbus DMUs to be withdrawn by 2020, though this now may not happen (subject to the Pacers getting PRM dispensations) due to 230 and 769 delivery delays. New rolling stock orders For the longer term fleet replacement, 148 brand new trains have been ordered. A total of 77 CAF Civity diesel multiple units have been ordered, which are due to be assembled in Wales at CAF's new UK factory in Llanwern, Newport. These trains will have end gangways. Also, a total of 35 Stadler Flirts have been ordered (consisting of 24 tri-modes and 11 diesel-electrics) along with 36 [[Stadler Citylink|Stadler Citylink]] tram-trains. These will be manufactured at the Stadler factory in Szolnok, Hungary and assembled at their plant in Bussnang, Switzerland. The addition of these trains to the fleet, from 2021-24 but mostly in 2022-23, will allow the 109 (total) Class 150, 153, 158, 175 and 769 units to be withdrawn. The 170s will then work different routes, with the 230s and Mark 4 sets remaining on the routes they will work from their date of introduction on TfW Rail services.